Ganjar Pranowo To Fadli 'Padi Reborn': Why Bird Toys Now?

JAKARTA - The frontman of the Padi Reborn band, Fadli, came to the official residence of the Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, at Puri Gedeh, Semarang City, last night. Instead of discussing music, the two of them were engrossed in discussing birds.

Fadli did not come here with other band personnel. But he came with his new community friends, namely the Merpati Kolong community. The man whose full name has been Andi Fadly Arifuddin since the pandemic hit, he likes a new hobby, namely pigeon farming.

Ganjar, who didn't know Fadli had a hobby of pigeons, was quite surprised by the chat that night. He did not expect that Fadli, who is famous for his golden voice, turned out to be involved in a hobby that not many people thought of.

"I'm nervous you know (I'm surprised you know), how come it's a bird toy now. You know you want to talk about music, how come you suddenly talk about virgins (pigeons)," said Ganjar in surprise, Monday, October 11 night.

Fadli said he had been pursuing the pigeon hobby since the pandemic. He said that he was initially interested because there were many pigeons near his house.

“Then I wanted to learn, and he said that if you want to study seriously, you have to study in Central Java, because the center of the undersea dove is in Tegal and Pekalongan. Then I came and met these friends,” he said.

Handsome conversation took place at the meeting. Ganjar, who still doesn't believe Fadli has a hobby of pigeons, often teases him. One of them gave a new nickname to Fadli.

"But you still sing, right? I'm worried, people used to know Fadli Padi, now he's Fadli Dara," he joked, quoted from the official website of the Central Java Provincial Government.

To Fadli, Ganjar also said he likes pigeons. When he was a child in Purworejo, he always played pigeons with his friends.

"When I was in elementary school, I played it. Nglepeki ngono kuwi. In my place, the name used to be tomprang. It turns out that there is a community, right?” said Ganjar curiously.

Fadli said he liked the pigeons under the acrobatics shown. Pigeons under can also be said to be the original agility sport of the archipelago.

In addition, as a child his father was also involved in the world of pigeons by cultivating forest pigeons and then releasing them back into the wild. It was his childhood story that inspired him.

“And when I met friends from this community, they turned out to be great and wanted to meet Pak Ganjar. Finally tonight we can meet and we are very happy because Pak Ganjar has an extraordinary response, "he said.

Fadli also said he wanted to form an official community of under the dove lovers. Because so far, under the dove lovers do not have a suitable container.

In addition, continued Fadli, pigeons under is not an ordinary hobby. It takes dexterity, tenacity, and there are procedures for taking care of it. He also brought one of his friends, who managed to sell the pigeon under for Rp. 1.5 billion.

“So this is not a random hobby, because everything has a procedure. So hopefully, friends of this community, we have legitimacy from the organization and other things. Indeed, Mr. Ganjar's message had to be tidied up, from farming to other things. We will try to make that happen. And I'm happy to meet Pak Ganjar. The response was very positive. Something to be happy about," he concluded.